To:
Federal Election Commission

FEC, Don't Let Billionaires Buy Our Elections

Exciting news! On Thursday, November 21, the FEC denied the Tea Party's request by a 3-2 vote. That means the Tea Party Leadership Fund will have to continue making disclosures according to the rules everyone else has to follow.

Your voices were definitely heard. At the beginning of the hearing, mention was made of the comment submitted on behalf of over 5,000 people. You made a huge difference.

Why is this important?

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is on the verge of granting a prominent Washington, D.C. Tea Party group an exemption from federal reporting and disclosure requirements not only for donors, but also for expenditures.

If the Tea Party gets its way it will be allowed to legally operate under cover of complete darkness, and function as a conduit for billionaires' money to buy the midterm elections for right-wing conservatives in 2014.

The Tea Party Leadership Fund is a shadowy front group for wealthy Tea Party donors that made headlines this year for trying to recruit right-wing politicians like Allen West and Sarah Palin to run for Congress.

Last week, the Federal Election Commission released a draft opinion that would give the Tea Party Leadership Fund a special exemption from reporting and disclosure requirements -- essentially giving it a blank check for operating in total secrecy.

We saw how destructive undisclosed donors to 501(c)(4) groups were in 2012. Imagine the same situation magnified by no disclosure whatsoever and no public scrutiny of where their funds are spent.

If the FEC allows this opinion to stand, our elections will be hopelessly and forever corrupt. A decision will likely be made this week, so we need to push back now to stop the Federal Elections Commission from giving anonymous Tea Party billionaires like the Koch Brothers a free pass to buy the 2014 midterm elections under the cover of total secrecy.